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Models are indispensable. Reality is insanely complex. Mapping every possible interaction would be computationally impossible and utterly useless for understanding the world. Instead, we flatten things down to key causal variables and use them to help us make predictions and decisions. But models come in different shapes and sizes. Which model is useful depends on .. MORE
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Politics and Economics
[Given the recent American trend of political alliteration, I was thinking of entitling this Build Back Better By Borrowing Billions for Big Beautiful Baby Bonds.] The administration has proposed giving newborn babies (whose parents have Social Security numbers) a savings account containing $1,000, which must be saved at least until the child reached the age .. MORE
Economic Education
We’re bringing back price theory with our series on Price Theory problems with Professor Bryan Cutsinger. You can see all of Cutsinger’s problems and solutions by subscribing to his EconLog RSS feed. Share your proposed solutions in the Comments. Professor Cutsinger will be present in the comments for the next couple of weeks, and we’ll post his .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Recently, co-blogger David Henderson offered some ponderings about the limits of self-ownership. He argued that the government shouldn’t put limits on the self-ownership of adults of sound mind, but such limits could appropriately be placed on children and adults of unsound mind. That raised the issue of how we set about determining when a child .. MORE
Monetary Policy
I’m glad that co-blogger Scott Sumner took on one of the fears about ending the production of pennies. His post made me realize that I had neglected to post on my article on the demise of the penny that I published at Hoover in March. The article is “Thoughts for Your Penny?“, Defining Ideas, March .. MORE
International Trade
Assume for the sake of the argument that the run-of-the-mill nationalist’s expression “our national resources” is meaningful. These resources—physical resources, capital, talents, expertise, etc.—constitute a sort of “public good” belonging to, and to be consumed collectively by, the nation’s members, if not by “the Nation” herself. Consider a first contradiction. Nationalists are usually mercantilist: they .. MORE
International Trade
One of the myriad of justifications given for Trump’s love of tariffs is that they are actually a negotiating tool to get the rest of the world to be more fair to American firms. American firms supposedly face high trade and non-trade barriers and these tariffs are to show that “we mean business” and force .. MORE
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Bloggers David Henderson, Alberto Mingardi, Scott Sumner, Pierre Lemieux, Kevin Corcoran, and guests write on topical economics of interest to them, illuminating subjects from politics and finance, to recent films and cultural observations, to history and literature.
Browse our archive of posts by author last nameRegulation
When I started to write this article, I was ready to blame Paul Krugman for not discussing this far more important economic restriction. Then I did some research. Research is most useful when it changes your mind, and my research did change my mind. It turns out that Krugman has been very good at laying .. MORE
Economics of Health Care
Is the Supreme Court Really That Divided? The Facts Say No. by Billy Binion, Reason, June 5, 2025. Excerpt: The gist is simple. That issue focused “on what appears to many to be an existential threat to democracy,” the magazine wrote, which is “the far-right shift of the Supreme Court, and the conservative movement’s plans .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
I had many good things to say about Barry Lam’s book Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for Discretion. However, no book is flawless, and no argument leaves no room for pushback. There are several places where I think the analysis in the book falls short, or at least misses out on important insights. While Lam’s .. MORE
Can the four-year degree be saved? Not for most learners, I would argue. Once less expensive alternative pathways become clearer and surer, a full-on degree will seem impractical… But why does the degree have to be the only product that colleges sell? And why can’t the American Dream be achieved by other college products, other .. MORE
Henry George published his spirited defense of free trade, Protection or Free Trade, in 1886. In this classic, George paid special attention to how protectionism affected the working class. Except for the slightly dated writing style and examples from a century ago, Protection or Free Trade could have been written yesterday. With the election of .. MORE
Polities and Economics In the first article of this series, I outlined what an economic approach to reading Homer’s epic, The Odyssey,1 might look like. I then turned to Homer’s treatment of comparative political regimes in the second article. In this final essay, I return briefly to The Odyssey’s polities, and then consider the lessons the heroic tale .. MORE
Frontispiece, Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. This article was inspired by a recent Virtual Reading Group on Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, led by Richard Gunderman. Learn more about our Virtual Reading Groups at the Online Library of Liberty. To what field of study would a thoughtful person look to find more joy in life? For .. MORE
In social contract a la Buchanan, a people might unanimously consent to a constitution which may have many unlibertarian features even illiberal features (such as zero immigration or zero trade). What is there to bar..
Mactoul, June 2